Nightwatch: It's a Lonely Night (CYOA)
by Esau Futagoza
Summary: Note: This is a CYOA. Vale is the home to Beacon Academy, a school that trains hunters and huntresses to protect the peaceful life of the people. But not these guys. Meet the Nightwatch, a dead end job where Beacon dropouts are hired to watch the city's walls at night. The night is usually long and boring, and these guys always try to find ways to entertain themselves.
1. 1-4 Archives

This is an archive since my pastebins keep getting deleted for some reason.  
>Anybody have any idea why? Guess not.<br>Anyways here is #1-#4

#1

I was running away. It was the only thing I could do.

It was so dark, so dark. I think it happened in the middle of the night, or it may be my memories exaggerating again. I lived with my parents in a settlement outside of the safe walls of Vale. Why did my parents choose to live outside? They never lived long enough for me to ask them.

The Grimm came in droves. It rolled over the village like it was nothing. Our hunters tried to hold them back, but they just ended up as appetizers. My father pulled out his 'trusty old friend', a flimsy, useless gun. Mother stayed back with him. Then they told me to run to the walls, so I did.

I remember stumbling on hidden roots and ancient potholes. I was not gifted with the extraordinary night vision of the faunus. I ran so fast that my breathing was louder than me falling onto the ground. Fall, stand, run, fall again, stand again, run again. To be truthful, I was almost at my limit. I wanted to lay down there and let the Grimm kill me.

But then I saw it, a light. A powerful, reddish light, much more intense and powerful than the sun itself. It took awhile for my eyes to adjust to it, and once it did, I saw a tall, powerfully built man, holding up what seemed like to be a Dust torch. Without a word, be pulled out a sword, and cut the Grimm that was right behind me in half. Then he charged into the whole pack. It was like he was dancing. Sword in one hand and torch in another, he slashed through the Grimm as gracefully as a dancer would after years of practice.

I didn't remember much after that, but I did remember the man bringing me into the walls and giving me what seemed like a piece of rock salt. He patted my head and told me to chew it, said something about salt being good for nerves. He then handed me to a friend of his, the head of some Academy.

I didn't get the chance to thank him.

That's why I'm here today at the head office of the Nightwatch, a group of people who watch the walls of Vale during the dark and cold nights. After years of training, graduating from Vale's top combat academy, Beacon, I finally think that I'm worthy enough to meet the man again and finally thank him after all these years. However, this place certainly isn't what I thought it was, instead of looking like a gloomy armory, the place resembled a common room of a dorm, with a elevator to go up the walls. There was a comfy-looking sofa and a (gambling?!) desk in the room. I searched around the room until I found a door labeled 'Administration, Reception and Pizza destination(?)'. I checked the note Professor Polt gave me, , the time (my appointment was at 4) and the door again before knocking.

"Come in, it ain't locked," said a voice.

What greeted me was a weird sight. A young man (barely any older than me) in a t-shirt that said 'Boop' and jeans was laying down on the floor with his limb spread apart like when one does to make snow angels. He was chewing on a piece of salt (or was it sugar?).

"You're the new intern, right?"

#2

You decide to ignore everything, "my name is Atari, I believe I made an appointment?"

The guy sat up, looking severely disappointed for some reason. He pushes several stacks of important looking documents off a chair before directing me to sit on it. I complied.

"I can see that you're one hell of a boring guy, mate. School got to your brain?" asked the guy as he pushed several more stacks of important looking documents off another chair before sitting on it, "name's Nero, leader of this group of shitheads."

I continued to ignore everything he says. Is it a test of some sort? I pulled out my resume and handed it to him, "I'm here to apply for the open position in the Nightwatch."

"Put that away, and don't pull it out in front of the others," said Nero as he leaned in close, "they're all dropouts."

I kept my resume back into my bag. Somehow, I don't the Nightwatch will be at all like what I envisioned. For one, this guy, the leader, acts like a slob. Secondly, he mentioned that everyone here were dropouts. But I chose to ignore it and went on, "my condolences to the guy who had this position before me."

"Avant-garde?" said Nero, somewhat impressed that I did my homework, "nah, that guy was an idiot through and through. You know how he died? He tried to impress the pizza delivery lady by jumping off the wall towards her. Landed on his Torch. Well, he died and now the pretty lil' lady won't deliver to us anymore."

"Okay," I had no idea how to reply to that.

"Well, it's two or so hours until our shift, walk around the place and make yourself at home. I'll call you back for some more briefing right before the shift," said Nero as he pulled out a whole can of sugar... sticks? "sugar, rookie?"

"No, thank you," I stood up and exited the room. Well, that was a weird experience. While the leader was... bizarre, I'm quite certain that the others may be more decent.

I looked around the room and saw that a few people had already arrived. One was facing away from me on the sofa, looking at his scroll and making weird breathing noises. Another two were chatting at the gambling table. Maybe I should introduce myself?

#3

Convinced that the others are decent, I walk up to the table to introduce myself. The first guy looked slightly older with his grey-ish hair. He was looking at the second guy, who was holding something in his hands.

"You see, Ivan, using Dust outside of bullets is an art," said the second guy, as he opened his left hand, revealing a small fire Dust crystal. Ivan looked on, not sure what to expect. I also moved closer to see closely.

"You just apply a tiny bit of my semblance into it and..." said the second guy, while moving his hands around mystically, "and TADAAAA!"

The Dust crystal flashed brightly for a moment, blinding both Ivan and me. After the sudden burst of light was gone, the second guy was holding a flower. Ivan started clapping, "great trick! Great trick! Terra you good magician! Good tricks!"

"No," I said, instantly coming between Ivan and Terra, "it's not possible to synthesize Dust crystals into anything resembling a flower."

"And who would you be, smart boy?" asked Terra, obviously not impressed, "I should let you know, I graduated top of class in Beacon, and I've been involved in-"

"I don't remember you from the graduation ceremony," I am quite confident in my memory, by the way, "my name is Atari, the new intern who'll be joining the Nightwatch."

Terra looked stunned for a second but made an almost instant recovery, "just pulling your leg, kid, I'm Terra, the leader of the Nightwatch."

Before I could try to correct him, Ivan interjected, "Terra not leader, leader is Nero. I Ivan, good soldier of Nightwatch. May we be good comrades in duty."

So, Ivan's an honest idiot and Terra's an slightly less idiotic liar. My original vision of the Nightwatch is already shattering, "Nero sent me to learn a little from you guys and 'make myself at home'."

"You already met him? Oh. Well, welcome to the Nightwatch, guardians of the night and watchers of the wall, bla bla bla. Wish you'll stay long, kid. Being here is boring. With the occasional distraction or so."

Boring? The Nightwatch is one of the longest living teams in Vale, dating back to the days when Vale was just fighting to expand its formerly tiny territory. He must be lying.

"You must be lying."

"For once, I'm not. Ask Ivan or something."

I turned to Ivan, who already walked away from the table to what I guessed was his locker. He was sitting in a chair slowly spinning the barrel of what looked like a minigun for grenades. I decided to go straight to the point.

"Ivan, since I'm new here, I want to ask about life in the Nightwatch. How is it? Terra was lying when he said it was boring, right? You guys are the protectors of the town at night, right?"

Ivan slowly looked away from his weapon to look at me, he looked like he was thinking what to say, "Ivan's opinion is Ivan's own, but life in Nightwatch? Boring. It dark, cold, like old home at Atlas. But Grimm? Grimm no attack walls at night. Grimm move in packs to sleep. Rarely attack."

Lovely. After thanking Ivan, I stood up and checked my watch. I had an hour left until my briefing. So what should I do next?

#4

I decided to go up the wall, maybe seeing Vale from that perspective will bring my spirits (and dreams) up again. I entered the elevator, ignoring the fact that it was lined with what seemed like Nevermore feathers and horrible elevator music was being played at full volume. It was a long ride, this segment of the wall was about ten stories high.

While in the elevator, my mind started to wander. Maybe my memory of the old man was just some kind of fever dream. Maybe he wasn't part of the Nightwatch in the first place? Maybe this was all a test? No, it can't be. This is reality. I probably exaggerated my past a little too much.

Not wanting to think about depressing things, I let my mind go back to actual solid facts like back in Beacon. The wall ranged from two stories to ten stories tall and served as a seal to block off the chink in Vale's natural terrain armor. Originally, it was just a one layer thick wooden wall to block out Grimm, but it became what it is today during the Great War, when Vale needed a vantage point tall and strong enough to observe and withstand 3 armies. The Nightwatch is a traditional name given to those who watch the wall at night.

My train of thought was broken by a loud 'ding!' as I reached the top of the wall. Unexpectedly, what greeted me first as I stepped out of the elevator was not a great view of Vale, but the edge of a blade whizzing towards me. By instinct, I dodge backwards and let the blade fall short. My hand automatically moved to my side to the small dispenser I use to keep my throwing knives.

A kid (he looked 14) was holding up a gigantic sword taller than he was with lots of weird moving parts at me. Somehow, the sword looked familiar. Must be one of those super unique custom weapons I've seen once in my years in Beacon. The boy started to speak ,"stranger on the wall, identify yourself."

"My name is Atari," I replied, but I kept my hands free so I can pull out a knife anytime.

"I don't recognize that name," said the kid. Before I could say anything, he charged at me again with his sword.

I pulled out a throwing knife and flinged it to his sword. Sparks flew as the blade clashed together, and the knife was knocked aside like nothing. But it was enough to slightly change the trajectory of his sword. I dodged to the side and pulled out two more knives, then I hesitated. However I looked at it, I was pulling out weapons and throwing them at a kid. I'm pretty sure this violated at least 4 laws.

The kid spun in midair and stabbed the sword into the ground to change his direction. In one fluid movement, he detached a part of his sword and threw it at me. Instincts took over again as I threw one of my knives at the flying sword-boomerang. It just glanced off it, not even changing its trajectory. I focused my aura into the knife in my other hand and with all my will, activated my semblance. The knife accelerated well beyond logical speed as it left my hand, generating enough force behind it to blow away all the dust and tiny objects behind me into the air.

The knife slammed into the boomerang with the force of an angry Grimm Ursa charging downhill. Both projectiles ricocheted and flew in opposite directions off either side of the wall. The kid then pulled out his sword and did a jumping attack on me as I pulled out six more knives, three for each hand.

Just at the moment that we were about to clash, a piece of Dust crystal flew between the both of us and exploded. I put my arms in front of my face to block out the explosion, but it didn't hurt, nor did it even felt remotely like an explosion. Or anything at all. I slowly put down my hands and there was a very grumpy and sleepy looking guy grabbing the kid by the scruff of his shirt.

"Haruharu. I told you not to wake me up before sunset, didn't I?" asked the guy, pure rage emanated from his voice, "and you. Who are you and why are you fighting a little kid on a ten story wall?"

##Strawpoll link: /2797808


	2. 5

##Attack on instinct

The sleepy looking guy was a friend of the kid named Haruharu, who attacked me. Thus, my brain automatically labeled him as an enemy. I threw three of my knives from my left hand towards him, not even trying to answer his question first.

The guy, noticing my throwing stance, threw Haruharu to the back and pulled out some kind of metal torch from under his cloak. With one swing, he extended it into what resembled a monk's spade but with parts from a flamethrower. Without losing momentum, he intercepted my knives with his weapon.

"First you interrupt my nap, then you try to kill me," said the guy, "so I'd assume I have full right to try and kill you back, right!?"

He had a very evil look on his face as he slowly stepped forward, swinging his spade around to turn it into a flamethrower. Maybe it was a bad choice to attack him. However, the elevator was behind him and there was a ten story drop on either side of me.

While I was thinking, he was already in effective range. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger of his flamethrower. Tongues of fire spewed forth, covering me in pure agony- Wait, no, it doesn't hurt. I don't feel anything at all, just like the explosion just now.

Then a hand reached through the flames and flicked me on the forehead. I didn't anticipate this move at all, and instantly fell backwards onto the concrete.

"My semblance is to control fire. And if I wanted it to be a mere illusion, I can make it to be so," explained the guy, now squatting beside me, hostility almost gone but with that same grumpy look on his face, "if I was serious, you'd be dead by now. Haruharu, apologize to the young man over here."

"But-," retorted Haruharu. He instantly stopped when the guy gave him a look, "I'm sorry for attacking you."

The guy pulled me up and handed me my remaining throwing knives, "name's Gin Man Tian VIII, but usually people just call me Gin. That's Haruharu, youngest member of the Nightwatch since five decades, I think. He has a habit of attacking people he doesn't know. And you are?"

"My name's Atari, an intern that'll be working for the Nightwatch," I replied. Haruharu gave me an angry look, to which I returned an angry look of my own.

"Would explain why you're not a familiar face," said Gin, as he gave a big yawn, "it's about half an hour left to the watch, so don't bother me, I need to make up for the lack of sleep you two gave me."

Gin turned away back to a bed I didn't noticed before, collapsed on it, and was instantly asleep. I couldn't help but feel impressed.

I checked my watch. I had about half an hour left to my briefing.

## strawpoll link: /2804088


	3. 6

##Go back down to the lobby area and talk to Terra and Ivan.

I decided to head back down the lobby area. Still feeling Haruharu's stare on my back, I entered the elevator and slumped to the ground as soon as the doors closed. I looked at my slightly dulled throwing knives. I wasn't exactly the master of battle, seeing that I have no affinity with most types of fancy weapons whatsoever.

I reminisce back to the time I entered Beacon, a year older than most of my year because I could barely pass the combat test in Signal the second time round after failing horribly in the first. I made some friends, drastically improved my weapon skills (although still not as good as some of the others), got over my fear of the dark, and even became one of the more above average graduates of Beacon. Sure, my choice to join the Nightwatch was frowned upon by most, but my foster father agreed to it, deciding that it was my choice to become whatever I want.

The elevator finally reached the ground floor. As the doors opened, I noticed that Terra and Ivan were joined by the guy that was previously on the sofa and two other people I didn't know. One of them was a faunus, his twitching fox-like ears barely hidden over a hat made out of tin foil. The other was a large sized man who was wearing something that looked like an apron.

Terra noticed me first, "Back from the walls, Atari? You look like you lost an argument with a certain irritable kid."

I just nodded and sat down on the chair Ivan was indicating, "Har-har good kid. Just twitchy. Atari will get used to it soon enough."

"So this is the new guy?" asked the man in the apron, "Name's Chef. I work in the kitchens and occasionally the wall. Nero usually keeps me off the wall though. Says he prefers the team cook to be able to react to any food emergency at once."

Suddenly, the faunus grabs me and pulls me to the corner, out of earshot. I handed me a bottle of water (which was weird as there were water dispensers both here and on the wall). He then started to speak very fast, "Did you drink the water in the building yet? Don't. It's dangerous. It'll brainwash you and turn you into a government puppet. You should wear a something made of you tin foil too. Reduces them government brainwashing transmissions by at least ninety percent. I'm telling you, they're planning something big, very big. Be very careful-"

His rant was interrupted when the guy who was at the sofa walked over and smacked him over the head, "Do forgive Turquoise, he likes to think that everything's a very big, very complicated conspiracy. The name's Wanker, vice leader of the Nightwatch."

I chose to not shake his oddly sticky-looking hands. Furthermore, that name sounded too weird to be real. Before I could ask, Wanker continued, "I don't like it when people ask about the name, new kid."

That's it. There's no one that's normal in the Nightwatch. How did I ever think that the Nightwatch would be even similar to what I envisioned? Everyone did tell me that I shouldn't come here in the first place.

Suddenly, Nero burst out of his office, now wearing an aloha shirt with reflective flower patterns, "Alright, men. You ready for Nightwatch duty?"

Everyone groaned as they picked up their stuff to head up the elevator. Before I could follow, Nero grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Not what you expected, rookie? There's one more member left that I would like you to meet before you start your duties, or decide not to. Hey, Hanse, say hi to the new member!"

Another man came out of Nero's office. However, he was much older than the rest. Strapped to his waist was a torch and a sword. He looked very familiar.

Then I noticed. He was the man that saved me all those years ago.

## Strawpoll link: /2813790


	4. 7

##Fangirl.

If I was holding anything, I would've dropped it. It was him, my childhood hero, my inspiration, my savior. He looked at me with a slightly curious look, I'm pretty sure he doesn't recognize me from all those years ago.

I started (involuntarily) to make the sound of a balloon slowly deflating. Try to control your breathing, Atari. Oh, to hell with that. I started to breathe heavily in a way that would've impressed Wanker.

I slowly walked to Hanse, still not sure what to say. My palms were sweaty. Not even during one of the assignments that nearly killed me during my years in Beacon were my hands this sweaty. Calm down, Atari, calm down.

"You okay, kid?" asked Hanse, clearly worried.

Then I decided to stop controlling myself, "Oh my god, I've been wanting to meet you since forever. You saved my life with those insane abilities of yours juuuuust when I was about to die, you know that? Sure I may be an illegal immigrant by usual standards but I've been trying to follow in your footsteps since the day you dropped me off. Really though, I was half-expecting you to be retired now, but boom! You're still here. Indeed you are truly an honorable and loyal knight of justice, just as I envisioned. You was almost blocked out of Beacon in the first place, I was bad with guns and bad with the dark, but the very image of you killing everything with just a sword and a torch kept me going. Then I joined Beacon and I asked this very talented friend of mine to draw a picture of you just as I envisioned- Do you want to see it? Ah, please don't, I'm too embarrassed! Then I got out of Beacon, nearly dying there on my final test but it was totally worth it, then I came here to find you but all I found were these guys, which didn't fit my image of you at all. You're like-"

Nero tried to interrupt me, "Uh, Atari, maybe you should-"

I stopped him from continuing by sending him a look that promised at least a thousand painful deaths, which shut him up. He whispered something to Hanse before heading to the elevator. Distraction now gone, I continued, "You're like a sole light in the darkness, a sole gentleman in a pig sty, a sole hero in a room full of grunts, you're-"

"Calm down, kid. Atari was it?" confirmed Hanse. I took the chance to inhale and nodded, "You see kid, I was just doing my job as a Nightwatcher. Surely these current guys seem weird but they're good men. Now, let's go to the wall and witness the first sunset on the wall, eh? I promise it'll be good."

I meekly nodded, slightly embarrassed at my behavior. Hanse led the way to the elevator, where Nero was waiting, "Maybe you aren't so boring of a rookie after all."

I decided to ignore that statement. After a very quiet elevator ride where Nero was snickering and Hanse was smiling good naturedly, we finally reach the top of the wall. As the doors opened, my nostrils picked up the lovely scent of grilling meat.

What I saw was the area being decorated like a party. Chef was in the middle with a grill, looking at home. Wanker, Terra and Ivan were bringing out the drinks. Turquoise was looking suspicious as he walked around, checking the food and drinks with what looked like a tinted magnifying glass. Haruharu was trying to wake Gin up by shakking him violently, to no avail.

As we walked out of the elevator, the guys put down what they were doing and shouted, "Welcome to the Nightwatch, new kid!"

Well, this was an awkward feeling. I had no idea how to respond to this at all. Haruharu ran past me into the embrace of Hanse. Gin was slowly waking up from the combined noise and Nero took a chair to stand on it.

"To our new member and brother, Atari, who shall watch the night with us!"

Everyone raised their drinks in response. I still had no idea how to respond, so I looked to Hanse for help. He just smiled and pointed to Terra, who hugged me and passed me a beer, "Just don't end up like Avant-garde, ok?"

Ivan and Wanker came over to hug me too. Chef passed me a very generous slice of grilled beef and wished me luck. Gin groggily shuffled over and gave me a fistbump, before going off to Chef asking for coffee. Turquoise suddenly appeared beside me before welcoming me too and passing me what looked like a tin foil hat.

Hanse, with Haruharu on his shoulders, came over too. "Welcome, kid. I believe you met my grandson? Heard from Gin that he attacked you on sight, sorry for that. He hasn't exactly been brought up by the most appropriate grandfather."

I could only nod in answer as he smiled and turned around to get some food from Chef. Haruharu stuck out his tongue at me as they went.

Finally, Nero, already with both food and beer in hand, came over, "Welcome to the Nightwatch, Atari. I bet you already heard from Terra, but this job may be very boring at times. And trust me, you may want to quit now if you want to."

"No," I said simply, "It was my choice to join the Nightwatch and I intend to stick with that choice. I'll be under your care from now on."

I bowed. Nero laughed and handed me something. It was a reflective armband with a stylized logo of an owl on it. The sigil of the Nightwatch. I clutched it tightly before wearing it, using a pin to fasten it to my sleeve. I smiled to myself and joined the others around the grill.

My first night as a member of the Nightwatch. I decided to remember this occasion forever.

##Congratulations! You have completed the prologue of Nightwatch: It's a Lonely Night. There'll be a minor timeskip to when Atari gets used to everything. This next strawpoll will decide the next story arc, choose wisely! Link: strawpoll - me - /2823651


	5. 8

##Nero and Chef's quest to Grimm Cuisine.

3 a.m. in the morning. Night. Whatever. I was sitting close to the floodlight with automatically scoured the tree line near the wall. I was using my personal Torch to read a novel I bought for cheap. It was titled 'Ninjas of Love' and was honestly just a smut story of a very, very specific fetish hidden in the form of a 'literary innovation'.

I was dead bored. It's been around two months since I joined the Nightwatch and the most exciting thing to happen all this time was a very grumpy Gin kicking Terra down the wall because Terra was being especially loud before sundown.

In this shift, I'm joined by Nero. He was in a half-asleep state while browsing the internet with his Scroll. Chef was supposed to be with us during this shift, but Nero stationed him in the kitchens down below.

Gin, Haruharu and Hanse were somewhere down there near the walls patrolling the place. I managed to spot them by the lights emitted by their Torches. Man, I wish I could've went on patrol with Hanse instead of being stuck with Nero. Hanse had the most interesting stories.

Terra, Ivan, and Turquoise were down in the lobby area, taking a break between their shifts, not that this job was especially energy-consuming anyways. Wanker retreated into the toilet an hour ago and hasn't come out yet.

"You know, Atari," started Nero, "I've always wanted to know what the Grimm taste like."

Some say staying up against your biological clock may have some adverse effects on one's mind. I decided this was the case and kept quiet.

"Everyday the headlines is about Grimm this, Grimm that, Grimm going to eat us all up. So I thought, why not eat them instead? They don't seem like they're going to go extinct just from us using them as food, would they? And it'll be easy to catch them. Just string Terra up on a tree or something."

I was a proud graduate of Beacon Academy, one of the finest hunter schools on the planet. So automatically, my brain told me to argue against him, "Nero, Grimm start to disintegrate as soon as they die. And it's not easy to capture one without killing it anyways."

"And just a few millennia ago, humans thought Dust was just pretty rocks in the ground," replied Nero, "Shouldn't we at least try? Food's food. Imagine that, Grimm, the new delicacy. We'll wipe them out in no time."

"As I said-"

"I propose an operation! I'll call it Operation Beelzebub! But we must keep this absolutely a secret though, if someone took away this idea for profit, I won't get any money for thinking about it. Since you're here, you're operative #2, after me, of course."

"Nero, please. Just listen to me for a minute. Grimm are not edi-"

"We'll get Chef as operative #3. He knows more about food than anyone in a hundred meter radius. Okay, that isn't saying much, but still, he's the team cook. Atari, go fetch him. Get Terra and some rope too."

##Link to poll: /2830469


	6. 9

##Do exactly as Nero says.

"Fine," I grumbled as I stood up. I decided that if I didn't do what he said now he'll continue to pester me all the way into the night, just like his last idea, which involved spiders and Ivan. That ended badly.

As soon as I reached the ground floor, I turned left to Nero's office. After some digging around, I found the bundle of rope that should be appropriate for whatever Nero's planning. Then I tapped Terra on the shoulder.

"Terra, Nero wants you up on the wall."

"Huh, but it's not my shift yet. And I've just started winning," replied Terra, hesitantly looking up from his card game.

Well, at that point I felt sorry for him. But then I remember him lying to me so I could cover two whole shifts for him in the last month. It was so cold and Gin was just looking really grumpy the whole time. Without a word, I grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him off. Ivan did a little wave and Turquoise just kept quiet.

I did a little detour to the kitchens to get Chef too. Chef sighed as I explained to him Nero's idea. He muttered something about 'a cook's pride' before agreeing to go up the wall with me.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, I threw Terra bodily at Nero's feet, along with the rope he requested. Without any hesitation, Nero tied Terra up in a way that looked similar to one of the little illustrations in 'Ninjas of Love'.

"Nero, why are you doing this? I have a slight stomachache, can I go back down to the lobby?" asked a clearly scared Terra.

"Nope," Nero fastened Terra onto a length of rope and kicked him down the wall. Two months ago I would've screamed at Nero and tried to save Terra. But I was dead to this now. Terra went screaming as he fell. Just before he hit the ground, Nero pulled at the string, letting Terra bounce up and down very close to the ground. Nero then fastened it to a pillar, fixing Terra in place.

"You asshole!" shouted Terra from below. Nero ignored it and turned towards us.

"Okay, we have our bait set. Now all we have to do is wait for one of them Boarbutusks-"

"Boarbatusks," I corrected him.

"Yes, those. Now we wait for one of them Boarbatusks to get close to Terra and we'll capture it."

"Uh, Nero?" started Chef, "Where are we going to get a cage that falls fast enough to capture a Boarbatusk on the way down?"

"I'll have Atari take care of that for us. Use your weird wire throwing dagger things and your semblance to make a net or something. Chef, you and I will be down there waiting in the bush. And Chef, bring your kitchen knives."

Chef and I exchanged looks as I pulled out my throwing daggers and attached steel wires to them. Originally, I used the steel wires to complicate my attack patterns beyond throwing them straight at an enemy. Well, look at me now. I didn't even have enough enthusiasm to object to this.

After getting our gear ready, me my knives, Chef his knives, and Nero his dining napkin, we arrived at where we hung Terra. He looks like he'd already given up all hope and was lazily oscillating at a very slow pace.

I jumped up a tree, waiting in ambush. Nero sprinkled some seasoning on Terra before joining Chef in a bush. Before long, as Nero expected, a Boarbatusk appeared (they were common along the wall). Terra just looked into the Boardbatusk's eyes and gave a sigh.

At Nero's signal, I threw my daggers in a circle around the Boarbatusk. Before it could react, I connected the other ends of the wires to another set of daggers and threw them as well. They all became like a net which pinned the Boarbatusk to the ground. It tried to struggle, but it was futile. I used my acceleration semblance to make sure the daggers were stuck deep in the ground.

Nero came out of hiding with Chef. I dropped out of the tree to join them.

"So now what do we do?" asked Nero, looking at me and Chef for ideas.

##Link to poll: /2836316


	7. 10

##"It's your goddamned idea, you think of something!"

"It's your goddamned idea, you think of something!"

"Good point," said Nero. He pinches his chin for a second (it was a habit of his when he's 'thinking') and considers it.

All the while, the Boarbatusk was struggling against the wires, making oddly boar-like sounds. Chef, who was bored, pulled on Terra and lets him swing like a pendulum. Terra just had a look of resignation on his face.

"Ah, I got it," said Nero, pulling out his Scroll. He scrolled through his contacts and called Gin, "Gin? Abandon your patrol and get over here ASAP!"

Well, this wasn't going to end well. Soon enough, Gin crashes through the underbrush, looking ready to fight off a whole Grimm wave. Hanse and Haruharu followed. Gin took one look at the trapped Boarbatusk, the swinging Terra, Chef, Terra and me before pulling out his weapon and swinging it at Nero.

"No, Gin, what the hell are you doing?!" screamed Nero, as he dodged, "Look, I can explain! It's really an emergen- Ah! Stop swinging that thing at me!"

Gin was looking murderous indeed. In the few months I've been here I've learned two things about Gin. One, never wake him up before sundown. Two, never interrupt him with stupid things while he's doing his job.

Nero dodged Gin's monk's spade again and ran into the forest. Gin followed, while pulling out a handful of Dust crystals. Hanse look at me and asked what was happening. I just shrugged. Haruharu went over to the Boarbatusk and started poking it with his sword.

After about ten minutes of waiting, and the sound of distant explosions, a very battered-looking Nero was dragged back by Gin. Gin looked at me and said, "Why didn't you stop him? Why did you even listen to him?"

I shrugged. Gin sighed and went over to the Boarbatusk, shooing Haruharu away. He laid down some Dust crystals around the Boarbatusk and took a step back.

"Don't make it too hot, just cook it so that it won't die," said Nero. Oh, so he wasn't dead after all. Shame. Gin sighed and snapped his fingers. The crystals started to burn at a somewhat warm temperature. The Boarbatusk struggled harder making weird cries.

"You know, usually Grimm call out to others of their kind when they're about to die," Hanse chimed in, "Tries to attract more of them so they go down fighting."

Then I felt it. A dozen presences surrounding us. More Boarbatusks, by the sound of that sniffing and hoof stomping. Great.

Gin, Haruharu and Hanse noticed it too. Gin stopped the fire and slowly switched his weapon's form. Haruharu cut Terra down and signaled for Chef to pick him up. Chef did as he was told and slowly started to inch towards the door. Hanse slung Nero over his shoulder.

"On my mark," whispered Hanse, pulling out his sword, "RUN!"

Haruharu, Chef and Hanse turned around and ran to the door. Gin fired off a stream of flames at the Grimm to distract them before turning around and running too.

Just as I was about to turn around and run, Nero looked at me straight in the eye and screamed, "But the Boarbatusk we were cooking-!"

##Link to strawpoll: /2847734


End file.
